Although we consider ourselves pretty tech savvy, we don’t reach people only though calculated market research—we give them information and insights that are useful and pertinent to their lives, presented in an accessible, attractive format. It’s as simple as that.
Array Magazine (Launched 2003)
Created as a vehicle for the New York Design Center (NYDC), a nearly century-old alliance of furniture designers and manufacturers. The NYDC needed a vibrant, value-added way to promote its tenants’ showrooms and expand their own visibility within a competitive local market and to the world at large.
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The look and feel of ARRAY was developed through roundtable discussions with magazine professionals who shaped and tailored it to exist in a mature market of shelter publications. ARRAY is targeted for and distributed to a readership of interior-design professionals, furniture dealers and manufacturers, the design media, and related industries. It’s also available for sale to consumers through subscription and at select outlets of major chain booksellers.
An unqualified success, ARRAY works on many fronts. The NYDC uses the magazine as an ancillary way to promote itself, NYDC member showrooms use it to promote themselves to their personal network of established and prospective contacts, and interior designers use it to remotely shop at NYDC for their clients while being entertained by an intelligent, insider’s view of their world
And we do it with insight, personality, and a sense of humor. We don’t mean to brag, but ARRAY has received unsolicited praise from senior editors at some big shelter magazines. The topics, people, and products we cover are often seen in those other publications, too—after they appear in ARRAY. Okay, so we are bragging!
Café Beyond Online Magazine for Bed Bath and Beyond (Launched 2005)
Bed Bath & Beyond is an instantly recognizable, mature retail brand with billions in sales and a well-oiled corporate operation. It also runs a highly successful online business that serves millions of customers and has amassed a very large e-mail database.
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So how does a company like this engage and hold the attention of its customers? It moves past being just a seller of goods and becomes a lifestyle resource, that’s how. And that’s where we come in.
Side Trip Media created the twice-monthly Café Beyond online magazine as a premium content section accessed directly from the homepage of the Bed Bath & Beyond Web site. Twice monthly, new issues of Café Beyond cover subjects like food, wine, entertaining, home decorating, health and nutrition, and celebrations, from holiday meals to weddings—in other words, all the subjects that are important in people’s daily lives.
We also partner with celebrities and various experts to create unique original content. Whether it’s an interview with a television personality, practical advice from a top interior designer, or kitchen tips and recipes from chefs at top restaurants, customers get interesting, usable information in a quickly accessible, clear format. And they get this information as they remain directly connected to the retail operations.
Café Beyond was an immediate hit. So far, it has garnered hundreds of thousands of (and fast-approaching one million) opt-in subscribers who receive new issues every two weeks. The value is clear—Bed Bath & Beyond now has a reason to contact these customers with something to say about things that strike a chord in their lives—baby care, anniversaries, fitness, travel, and more!
The success of the online magazine spawned the Café Beyond Podcast Show, featuring exclusive interviews with guests ranging from fashion designer Nicole Miller to chef Emeril Lagasse to television stars like Desperate Housewives actor Felicity Huffman and Food Network host Alton Brown.
Couch Karma (Launched 2008)
Americans spend $300B+ each year in the shelter market: home furnishings, outdoor living, kitchen, bedding, lighting, décor, interior design, remodeling, and do-it-yourself.
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Couch Karma is a blog for interior designers and affluent consumers looking to satisfy their desire for stylish details in design. Everyone who’s anyone in the design world visits the Couch for news and trustworthy direction on products and professional services to share and shop. As such, Couch Karma readers quickly convert to buyers, often visiting stores and vendors recommended on the site and making online purchases immediately.
Daily postings, designer diaries, images, culture quips, decorating queries, and video enable tastemakers to connect, inform, share, and even gossip. Come to the Couch if you’re keen on stylish spaces and cool products from around the globe, as identified by today’s design influencers.
